Coupling between electro-optical elements and optical communications fibers has heretofore been provided by splicing the system fiber to a short piece of optical fiber cemented to the electro-optical elements at one end and to another short piece of optical fiber cemented to the electro-optical element at the other end of the fiber. In an optical communications system consisting of a light emitting diode and a light detector, for example, a short length of optical fiber would be cemented to the light emitting diode at one end and to the light detector at the opposite end. The rigid attachment between the optical fiber and the electro-optical element causes many obvious disadvantages. The major disadvantage of this arrangement is the extreme fragility of the short optical fiber which causes the fiber to break in the event that pressure is inadvertently applied to the fiber during installation or operation.
The purpose of this invention is to provide a coupler for connecting between electro-optical elements and system fibers whereby electro-optical elements can be rapidly installed or replaced with minimum risk of damage.